Junta soldiers accused of setting fire to Sittwe Twsp village

By Admin 15 Jan 2024

DMG Newsroom
15 January 2024, Sittwe

Regime soldiers set fire to homes in Tawkan Village, part of Arakan State’s Sittwe Township, at about 9 a.m. on January 15, the Arakan Army said.

“I saw some homes in the east part of the village on fire. No one remains in the village. All residents have fled to safer locations,” said a resident of Tawkan Village.

Tawkan Village is home to about 1,000 people from more than 200 households. Details about the house fire damage are not yet known.

A military column entered Tawkan Village on the evening of January 14 and torched homes in the village after the residents fled to safer locations the following morning.

“The military contingent entered Tawkan Village after a landmine exploded near the village yesterday. I think junta soldiers set fire to homes in the village,” said another Tawkan Village resident.

An exchange of gunfire occurred after the AA attacked junta security checkpoints near Tawkan Village Sunday evening. Regime forces also intentionally set fire to homes in Tawkan Village, Sittwe Township, on December 22.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance has alleged that the military regime’s war crimes targeting civilians in Sittwe and nearby villages have become more daring.

The latest fighting between the military and the AA, which started on November 13, has been fierce for much of the past two months, with the military regime carrying out airstrikes and arson attacks on towns, villages, and buildings where civilians live.

Customary international humanitarian law requires any armed organisation to protect civilians and bars them from attacking, abducting and using civilians as human shields or targeting civilian houses.